"OFFICIAL" MASERATI BI-TURBO ERA ENTHUSIAST THREAD

Yeah, I can confirm that those won't fit. Those are the similar style caliper but for ventilated rotors and doing that is a much bigger job.

 

Actually, that's not a roadblock since the 630 also had 11" rotors. Do they bolt to the Biturbo struts?

 

If you want to find out about this sort of stuff try Yahoo Groups Biturbozentrum. It's been discussed on there several times. Plenty of data and people to help over there. I'm not going to replicate everything on the topic here.
It's not as simple as you think but it's great upgrade but there are no bold on solutions. The stock calipers also came from an early BMW with solid discs so you might be able to find those instead of the ones you've chosen here.

 

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Just bought back the original MIE Test Mule. A 2.0 European 1981 Biturbo that I originally purchased in Torino and shipped it to Seattle in 1985.
Looking for a running 84/85 2.5 liter running biturbo parts car. Body not important.
Ciao,
FGM
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I used those same Gotti wheels for track tires when I was running my 84 at the track. They are painted silver though. Still have them.

 

A fun YouTube clip

 

Best car ever!

 

Good day guys, happy to bump this tread up. I got a 1984 very cheap, for a reason... It's not running and I am chasing wires.
But more important:

Where is the VIN stamped in?

 

I always thought the Biturbo would make a nice racecar to run with similar BMW's of the day.

 

There are structural problems with the body and subframes that have to be dealt with and the turbo charged engine from that era is not what I'd call tractable. But it is fun. I ran my 84 street car which has a suspension kit on it and bigger & wider rims on it with lots of engine mods at the track at club events and that was a lot of fun until I went into an big slide towards a Jersey barrier with a corner worker fitting behind it it yelling STOP STOP STOP! LOL
No one has ever put sideways brakes on a car other than the contact patch of the tire. I stopped 3 inches from the barrier and decided to stop tracking that car.

So I bought a Ghibli Open Cup factory specified car and even that one needed a ton of changes made to it. With the 2.0L 4V V6 engine @ near 400HP it's an even more peaky motor.

There just so many parts people who know how to make the BMWs work well at the track and parts are quite plentiful. With the Maserati you are in the wilderness mostly all by yourself.

 

[QUOTE="staatsof, post: 149650271, member: 17261"

There just so many parts people who know how to make the BMWs work well at the track and parts are quite plentiful. With the Maserati you are in the wilderness mostly all by yourself.[/QUOTE]

This exactly. There're lots of subframe and chassis issues with BMW's that get abused or tracked (even 911s), but there's a much larger audience who's knowledgeable and a simple google search will yield a fix.

 

Have you seen we are in pretty good shape for BiTurbo tyres now

https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classic-car-tyres/maserati/biturbo.html

its a big thank you to Pirelli now who have mafde the 205/55R14 P7 again. there hasnt been a good option for those cars for years.

 

It was not the driver line up that was the problem

I remember test driving one of these in the 80's for the first time. Bought an Alfa Romeo GTV6 instead without hesitation, which by the way won the Group A touring manufactures championship for Alfa in 1982-83-84-85. Singing all the way.

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I had the GTV6 first and never really liked the car. There were several times when the electrical was saved by paperclips. The engine was wonderful but the rest of the car meh ... very old stuff inside and cheap as hell, weak AC. Giugaro did do a good job on the facelift but the materials not so much. That transaxel was a crap design. The synchros were totally over loaded at the end of that long driveshaft. I used to go to Griswold in Berkeley for service, a well known sports car place. They explained the synchros issue to me but no, Alfa wouldn't cover it. They also had one of the AM Bond cars from Goldfinger at the time, $60K. Should have, would have, couldn't have ... I also passed on a $30K fully restored Miura at my other Alfa shop too ... the full fire system (good idea) scared me off. PM for sage vintage care investment advise ... LOL!

Once while driving the GTV6 my wife stopped in the middle of the road with the Rancho Seco nukes in the background and said she refused to ever drive that POS GTV6 again because of the gearbox.

The Biturbo was a very different car. It was more modern, very comfortable and quite quick. It was too powerful for the chassis design so I put an MIE suspension kit on it and added the Spearco factory approved liquid intercooler kit.
Man did that thing fly. I still have it and it's still our favorite and most comfortable travel car but it's a smaller GT and not a sports car though it did embarrass quite a few more famous and much more expensive cars at the Pocono track.

Eventually Maserati did field a "factory" racing Biturbo in the form of the Ghibli Open Cup. Ironically those cars were not produced by the factory but were subcontracted to an Alfa racing specialist shop with very mixed results via Adolfo Orsi Jr.

The first year series cars had all sorts of issues and the second year series were upgraded via an owner installed Evoluzione kit. That race series was abruptly cancelled part way through. Those cars languished on the used car market for years and were quite unsuitable as a road car since all the suspension and isolation rubber was replaced with aluminum bushings. Some cars were picked up, further modified then raced successfully by some racing shops in the Modena area. Mateo Panini Bought one and had it turned into hill climb monster. You can see it at the Panini museum.

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The Trofeo series of 4200s was another racing failure but those were produced in house I believe. Ferrari of Washington DC campaigned a couple of them for 2 years unsuccessfully.

All still born factory efforts at best. We would have to wait for the MC12 for a real and championship racing effort from Maserati.

 

With good Syncros the GTV6 was and is still superior, and it looks a hell of a lot better IMO. The Biturbo had a better gearbox for sure, and much better interior. But the joints and the gearbox on the GTV6 can be fixed now. And the GTV6 has a great racing record. Those same parts developed for racing can make a GTV6 great.

BTW, the GTV6 and later GTV update was not done by Ital Design. Done by Alfa themselves.

So, to cover everything, this one will really hurt. The MC12 was done by Ferrari for Maserati racing

 

Here is how I think. Maserati, Alfa, Ferrari , OSCA, Abarth, Lancia, Lamborghini, Detomaso etc. all have the same philosophy. Build them as sporty and fast as possible. They most of the time used the same people, as they would go back and forth between companies. Busso is a perfect example, having a hand in projects at Alfa, Ferrari, FIAT ect. After the taker over of Stellantis that has all changed.

 

You may get a bit of an argument from Walter on that one. Certainly the engine was different from the Enzo with gears vs chains driving the cams. But IMHO the MC12 was a neat looking car but horrible on the street as it was too impractical. So great racer and lousy street car. They thought that was going to be enough to relaunch Maserati but then they put that terrible cambiocorsa tranny in the cars. Yikes what an enormous miss step.
Current Ghibli & QP restyle was idiotic as well. I think the later Levantes are fine. I'd really like the 550 hp model but can't justify it where I am now.

 

Hi

We do have stock of the OE BiTurbo Tyres 205/55R14 P7

https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classic-car-tyres/maserati/biturbo.html

 

Watch this video. They have a Totip Group A GTV6 and a Maserati V6 together on the track.

All the 4-cylinder Alfa's and the Porsche sound not so great.

 

By the way, I think that blue Maserati in the video is a Ghibli CUP car.

 

It's hard to even see the type of cars. There are several types of Ghibli Cup cars.

 

Well, you can tell the Busso Alfa V6's without looking. It's a V6 Ghibli Cup Biturbo based car.
Not the best camera work. That GTV6 is owned in Japan for many years and is the championship Group A Jolly Club car from 1983-84. Documentation proves it to be the car with the most victories.